The week before a Grand Slam is always an odd one. Some are out chasing last-minute form, others are arriving and acclimatizing to new conditions, and all eyes are on qualifying and the draw.
Last week was no different, with Wimbledon kicking off today. Two tournaments unfolded on each of the ATP and WTA Tours, while players landed in London and found out their draw fate at the year’s most prestigious major. Read on as we dive into all you need to know about what went down in tennis over the last seven days.
Last week’s winners
- Fritz def. Brooksby, 7-5, 6-1 (Eastbourne)
- Griekspoor def. Moutet, 7-5, 7-6(3) (Mallorca)
- Pegula def. Swiatek, 6-4, 7-5 (Bad Homburg)
- Vondrousova def. Wang, 7-6(10), 4-6, 6-2 (Berlin)
A few tier two and three contenders picked up valuable last-minute momentum heading into Wimbledon last week.
Taylor Fritz made it two grass titles for the season, collecting his fourth Eastbourne trophy to go with the one he claimed in Stuttgart a fortnight ago. The American fought his way through three deciding sets against Joao Fonseca, Marcos Giron and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina before seeing off lucky loser Jenson Brooksby in the final.
Tallon Griekspoor also increased his Wimbledon stocks, beating wiley Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the Mallorca final. The world No 29 is now 26-12 lifetime on grass and looked sharp with wins over Gabriel Diallo and Felix Auger-Aliassime en route to the title.
In WTA action, both Jessica Pegula and Marketa Vondrousova catapulted themselves up the contender list heading into Wimbledon with impressive title runs.
Vondrousova ran the gauntlet with wins over Madison Keys, Diana Shnaider, Ons Jabeur and Aryna Sabalenka, proving just how much of a force she is when not injured. Pegula was almost as impressive, downing the likes of Emma Navarro, Linda Noskova and Iga Swiatek in her run.
Wimbledon draw permutations become known
Friday saw the Wimbledon draw announced, with a raft of fascinating permutations for both the men’s and women’s events. We’ve gone deep in a separate piece, but here’s a look at the top-level stories that emerged:
- Djokovic seeded to meet Draper in quarter-finals (then Sinner)
- Fritz, Zverev, Medvedev and Berrettini together in wide-open quarter three
- Sabalenka and Vondrousova could meet in third round
- Three of the top-four women’s favorites packed into quarter four
As always, the twists and turns of the Wimbledon draw have opened up the door for some great dark horse bets – Griekspoor, anyone? – which we also dive into in more detail here.
Sinner unexpectedly fires trainer and physio
In a shock twist, Jannik Sinner announced just days before Wimbledon that he had fired athletic trainer Marco Panichi and physiotherapist Ulises Badio. The Italian has refused to elaborate on the decision, but it’s a bizarre one – rarely would such a move be made in the lead up to a Grand Slam unless something was amiss behind the scenes.
Djokovic confirms what we’re all thinking
Speaking to the media ahead of the action beginning in SW19, Novak Djokovic confirmed that he believes Wimbledon 2025 is his best shot at adding to his Grand Slam tally.
“Yes, I would probably agree that Wimbledon could be the best chance because of the results I had, because of how I feel, how I play in Wimbledon, just getting that extra push mentally and motivation to, yeah, perform the best tennis at the highest level,” he said.
“Whether it could be my last dance, I’m not sure, as I’m not sure about Roland-Garros or any other slam that I play next. My wish is to play for several more years. I would love to be healthy physically and also mentally motivated to keep on playing at the highest level. That’s the goal, but you never know at this stage.”
Alexander Zverev also weighed in with an interesting take on Djokovic last week, explaining why the Serbian doesn’t receive as much love as the other members of the Big Three:
“I think he gets a lot of undeserved hate,” Zverev said. “Obviously, Roger and Rafa are probably two of the most loved athletes of all time, right? They’re probably both in the top 10 of the most-loved athletes of all time. And Novak was spoiling the party a lot for the fans. But you know, all I can say is Novak is genuinely a good guy.”
Coming up this week
It goes without saying that this week is about one thing, and one thing only: Wimbledon, Wimbledon, Wimbledon.
Action begins at 11am BST this Monday, with defending champion Alcaraz taking to Centre Court at 1:30pm. This means the bottom half of the men’s draw will play on odd days (first, third, fifth etc.), alongside the top half of the women’s draw, with the inverse taking place on even days.
Before we leave, here’s a reminder of the matches you don’t want to miss this week:
- Fritz vs Mpetshi Perricard (Monday)
- Fonseca vs Fearnley (Monday)
- Kessler vs Vondrousova (Monday)
- Badosa vs Boulter (Monday)
- Humbert vs Monfils (Tuesday)
- Jabeur vs Ostapenko (Wednesday, potentially)
- Osaka vs Zheng (Wednesday, potentially)
- Gauff vs Azarenka (Thursday, potentially)
- Draper vs Bublik (Saturday, potentially)
You can check previews and predictions of some matches or more info on Wimbledon here.
